24 Hours
by WankyBrittanaLover
Summary: What do you do when you only have 24 Hours to save the love of your life? Emison fanfic
1. Chapter 1

"No!" Alison begs on her knees, her face filled with tears. "Please don't…"

Ali sees a blurry Emily, also on her knees, with a gun pointed against her skull. The black hooded figure holding the gun against her lover's head remains motionless.

"Please!" Alison screams in desperation again, in the middle of a room surrounded by around ten other black hooded figures that are holding her remaining 3 friends back. "I'll do anything! Kill me, not her! Just please!"

A keeps staring at her through its dark mask.

Her lower lip quivers as she looks at Emily who has the scarf she used yesterday tight against her mouth. Emily gives her a pained look, meaning that she wanted to fight but she was too weak to do so. She looks pale and fragile, so another sob escapes Alison's throat. She looks at Emily's hands which are handcuffed to a pipe against the wall and she knows that Emily, no matter if she tried, couldn't escape unless she got the keys and set her free but the keys were nowhere to be seen and if she tried to look for them, A could easily kill both of them without it's hand shaking. And whenever she'd get closer, A would press the gun against Emily harder and A wouldn't do anything when she'd talk so she had no idea what her next move was. All she knows is that there was a timer right next to Emily and it was at 19:22.

And she has no idea what was going to happen once the timer hit zero.

She had no clue what to do next, so she looks back at her friends for answers.

Hanna is staring between her and the other black hooded figure pointing a gun at Alison from a far, her breathing labored. "Ali, would you do something already?!" She screams at Alison and Ali wants to scream back "I'm trying" but her vocal chords don't seem to be functioning at the moment.

Spencer is still trying to fight against the two figures holding her back, one holding her body and the other trying to shush her with its hand. A muffle escapes her mouth when Ali looks back at her, her eyes wild. But Alison doesn't understand anything so she looks at Aria.

Aria, whose tears are rolling down her cheeks, looks at her and shakes her head, obviously not knowing what to do. She hears Spencer's grunting a few more times until she decides to look at Emily again.

"Do something!" Hanna screams, making an A get closer to the other blonde and it tapes her mouth against Hanna's resistance.

She looks everywhere, hoping to find a way to escape and save her friends and her girlfriend, but everything looks darkish and it's raining and the abandoned warehouse only has one exit and it's guarded by another A figure.

Everything is hopeless and this is the one thing Ali knows she won't be able to get out of.

And for the first time in her life, Alison DiLaurentis has no idea what to do next.

-23 Hours and 40 minutes ago-

"Babe, just ignore it…" Emily tried to reason with Ali, who got very upset by an A text that read "Stop fighting against your nature. You know you don't belong with ANY of them. –A".

"I can't." She stated angrily as she sat down on her bed, frustration radiating from her voice.

"You can…" Emily tried to get closer, taking Alison's hand, but the blonde pulled away and crossed her arms. Emily sighted. "This is A's way of trying to make you feel bad, of trying to make you an easy target."

Ali stayed quiet so the brunette sat next to her and tried a different approach.

"I am so proud of you." She said simply in the sweetest tone she could muster.

"Why?" The blonde asked, not bothering to give her a second look.

"Because you're changing, babe. You've finally put your walls down and you're letting us in… All of us, not just me. For the first time in your life, you're telling those secrets that constantly eat at you and you're slowly getting better. You're slowly turning into the person I've always known you were."

Ali deflated as she stared a far, encouraging Emily to continue.

"You told us your history with Cyrus, you told us what your brother's friends would do to you, you told us about the way your mom would make you feel like crap… You're slowly telling us everything and you're slowly learning to smile more."

That caused Ali to smile weakly. Too weakly, for Emily's liking. But right now wasn't the time to question her.

"You used to say that secrets kept us close…"

"But I recently learned that they can also tear us apart..." Ali whispered out.

"Exactly. You finally learned your lesson and you're letting go of your pain… That's something to be proud of. That's progress right there."

Ali finally looked at Emily and the brunette gave her a small, silly smile in return, making Ali laugh softly.

"You're right. I am making progress."The blonde said a bit cockily as she moved and placed her head on Emily's lap, the same way Emily placed hers on her lap when she saved her from the barn.

"You are." Emily started caressing her face and looking at her with pure adoration, making Alison blush. "What?"

"You!" Ali smiled at her. "You're too cute. It makes me nervous."

"It's the Fields gift." Emily joked.

"It's the Fields' advantage." Alison joked back but after a few seconds, her smile turned into a frown and her eyebrows ceased together.

"What's wrong, babe?" Emily asked, noticing the change.

"Nothing…" She said in a soft voice, making Emily know something was definitely up.

"You can tell me anything. Things are different now." She tried to convince Ali.

Ali looked at her and Emily looked back with those sweet, coffee-colored eyes and she felt the walls she was trying to reassemble, crumble. She sighted. "The girls still don't trust me."

Emily stayed quiet.

"They don't have to say it, I feel it. I feel the way Hanna's eyes roll whenever I say something about my disappearance. I feel the way Spencer eyes me carefully whenever I leave or enter a room. And Aria well… She lives in another world. I don't know what to say about her."

Emily gave her a weak smile. "It'll take some time… But if it makes you feel any better, none of them accuse you of being A anymore. That's something."

Alison scoffed. "Sure." She crossed her arms again and Emily noticed this was her angry tick and she found it adorable.

"It'll be ok. They're like that. They read too much into things. Spencer used to swear Toby was A and look at them now. Although she was partially right but that's beside the point. Aria no longer trusted Ezra at all and they're probably eating Chinese in his apartment right now. Hanna blew Caleb off because he was working with Mona. I mean, trust is something that's easily broken and well…you know you broke it with everything that happened once you came back."

"I know." Ali said as she felt Emily's fingertips against her face, circling her frown.

"But it also can be earned. Just keep getting better; you'll be our best version of Ali in no time."

Ali looked into Emily's eyes. "I love you."

Emily smiled, leaned in, kissed her softly and pulled back. "I love you, too."

"You always know how to make me feel better."

"That's why I'm your girlfriend."

Alison scrunched her nose and gave her a smile. "You knowww…." She started as she sat up again. "We ARE home alone." Ali gave her a seductive look, making Emily gulp. She took Emily's face as approval so she got closer and she started to kiss her at first firmly and then a bit sloppy.

As they kissed for a few more minutes and Ali started to make a trail down her neck, Emily glanced at the clock in Ali's bedroom and remembered that she had to be in two minutes at a swim meet.

"Ali…" She half moaned, half said, encouraging Ali to suck on her pulse point.

"Oh my God…" She almost let herself get lost in the moment but the thought of Sydney wondering why Emily wasn't there popped into her mind and it was a quick turn off. "Ali, Ali, wait."

"What?" She said as she looked away confused.

"I have a swim meet."

Alison grunted.

"I'm sorry babe, it's important and it starts right at four."

"Is Paige going to be there?"

Emily laughed softly. "She is a part of the team."

"Then stay here." Ali gave her the best puppy-eyes she could make, making Emily melt.

"I wish I could." Emily gave her a sweet, short kiss and stood up. "But I really have to go."

"Okay…" Ali said as she stood up with her.

"Don't be sad baby." Emily kissed her again. "I'll come right after the meet."

"Deal." Ali said as she kissed Emily again.

Emily then said her goodbyes and started walking downstairs, wishing she could stay a bit longer, but she was assistant coach and she had responsibilities so she continued walking hoping that she'd be able to return fast enough.

The "I love you" Alison screamed from her room to Emily, who was already outside, almost made Emily turn around buuuut she stayed strong and she got in her car.

As she put her seat belt on, the smile on her face just kept getting bigger and bigger because how lucky was she! She had the it-Rosewood girl waiting for her in her room and life couldn't get any better.

When she was about to drive away, she suddenly received a text from Hanna that read "Em, where are you?", making her smile turn into a worry frown.

"I'm on my way to school, why?"

"Can we please meet up?"

Hanna's urgency concerned Emily.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Something happened…"

"What happened?"

"Can we please meet up in the church?"

Emily looked at her phone, wondering what the hell was going on and why she wanted to meet in a church.

"Now? I have swim meet practice."

"It's important."

"Can't we meet up at school?"

"GOD EMILY GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND TALK TO ME!"

"Okay then." Emily whispered to herself as she texted a quick "Be right there" to Hanna and drove away.

-23 Hours and Half an Hour ago-

"Hello? Hanna?" Emily said as she walked inside the empty church. "I'm here!"

She knew Hanna probably wasn't there since her car wasn't even outside, but she wanted to check anyways because maybe Caleb had dropped her off. So she walked around the church's main area and when she heard no response, just the clicking of her boots, she knew it was probably best to just sit and wait.

She fixed her scarf to hide the multiple hickies she had gotten from Ali in those last couple of days and then she proceeded to keep thinking about Alison.

Oh, Alison.

She knew she had just left her house but there was something weird about not having her next to her all of the time, especially when A was out to get her and she wanted to protect her as much as she could. But Hanna apparently needed her and she wasn't just a girlfriend, she was also a friend, so she was there patiently waiting.

Seconds turned into minutes and she got a bit anxious so she texted Hanna a "Where are you?"

She waited a few minutes for a response, but none came and she didn't know why but she was starting to feel nervous. But just on cue, she heard the church's door open and relief spread across her body.

"Finally!" She said before turning around. "You're he-"

And she saw it. She saw A on the door, trapping her inside.

Emily looked at the masked A figure and her heart started to beat fast because she knew that Hanna wasn't going to come; it was all a trap. And she should have known.

Panic made her palms sweaty and her legs stiff, but as soon as she saw IT get closer, she started to run in the opposite direction, only to find another A right in front of her.

A grabbed her by the waist and Emily started to scream so loud, her throat started to burn, but A just turned her around and placed a wet towel on her mouth.

She kept trying to scream but then she started breathing in the towel's scent and her eyelids started to get heavy. She squirmed a few times and tried to stay awake, but the smell was too much and the panic was overwhelming and she knew no one would come and save her.

She wasted her remaining energy trying one last time to get out of A's grasp, but it was a worthless because A was getting stronger and she was getting weaker and she was oh so very tired… so the last thing she saw was the other A figure get closer… and a black glove pressing a wet towel against her face.

And she knew that she had accidently just gotten into some deep shit.

-4 Hours Ago-

Around 6 the day before, Ali had been furious. Not only wasn't Emily there, but she wasn't answering. "Emily Fields, you better have a good excuse for this." She'd mumble to herself whenever she'd check her phone and wouldn't see a response to her various text messages.

Around 7, Ali started to get worried so she called her a few times, going straight to voicemail. She was too mad to let herself get too worried so she just decided to relax watching some music videos she hadn't seen during the time she was gone.

At 8, Ali was walking up and down her room, worry taking over completely. Emily would never blow her off like this for such a long time, something was wrong and she knew it.

She wanted to call Hanna since she was the one who was closest to her out of the other three, but she knew she probably would tell her to just calm down and then curse her name in a whisper. She tried calling Emily a few more times and she even left a few voicemails, but it wouldn't even ring and she didn't know how else to contact her. She walked to Spencer's house since it was next door but no one was even home. She texted Aria but Aria told her she was with Ezra and that she'd call her later. So Ali was pretty much alone, her worry bigger than the state of Texas.

Just when she was about to walk to Emily's, her dad came home and told her that she wasn't allowed to go anywhere that time at night.

At 11, she was crying softly against her pillow because she was so scared and her dad was still awake so she couldn't run away to go check on her. After waiting for an hour more for him to sleep, she accidently fell asleep herself and woke up the next morning with puffy eyes and a runny nose.

It was 7 and she only had a few minutes to get ready and go to school if she wanted to get there on time and pass the school year, but instead of getting ready, she checked her phone to see if she had any new messages.

And she did have a message.

From Emily.

She felt her body exhale from relief and she read the message that said "I'm sorry baby, the meet ran late and I went straight home and fell asleep I feel really sick, I'm going to have to stay home. I love you, I'm sorry."

There was something very off about the message, considering that the plan was that she was going to go straight to HER house and not to her own, but she had to get ready quickly and she texted back an "Ok, I love you babe feel better I'll call you later" and asked her dad to take her before he went to work and he did.

The rest of the morning had been dreadful for Ali because she couldn't concentrate, she could only think about Emily and about how the same worry from last night was still there.

She felt something was very wrong and she was tempted to leave a few times but she needed to pass to make Emily proud so she tried to concentrate as much as she could.

And then lunch came around.

Ali was sitting alone at lunch, not seeing any of the girls. She wanted to text Emily but she wanted to let her sleep and she also had a feeling that she would no longer answer, so she just tried to eat her lunch, considering she hadn't eaten anything since the afternoon before.

"Hey." She heard her three other friends say as they sat down next to her.

"Hey." She said quickly, avoiding eye contact because she didn't want to say anything about this feeling she had until she would go to Emily's house after school and didn't see her.

Spencer, Hanna, and Aria gave each other weird looks, noticing how Alison hadn't even looked at them and how her leg kept jumping up and down.

"Everything alright?" Spencer asked carefully as she put her tray down and sat down, same as the others.

"Yeah." She said quickly again. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Where's Emily?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, it's weird seeing one without the other nowadays." Aria said with a smile, hoping to enlighten he mood, but Ali just got more nervous so she started to move her fingers a lot.

"She um, she wasn't feeling well…"

"Oh God!" Hanna exclaimed. "Please don't say what I think you're about to say!"

"What do you think I'm going to say?" Ali asked as she finally looked at them.

"Why do lesbians have so much sex? It's constant; I swear they get it on more than straight people." Hanna commented to Aria and Spencer.

"Hanna!" Spencer gave Hanna a pointed look.

"What? It's true."

"Um, no, she's actually sick." Ali said as she picked on her food.

The girls stay quiet for a few more seconds because Ali wouldn't add on.

"Are you sure that's just it?" Aria questioned further.

"Yeah, I mean, your nervous tick says otherwise…" Spencer inquired.

"I'm fine." She said, knowing that her lying wasn't at its best in that moment.

"I know things went down the wrong way a couple of weeks ago, but things are different now… You can trust us…" Spencer said carefully.

"We know Emily is the one who gets you to talk but we want you to know that you're not only HER friend, you're also ours."Aria clarified, making Ali relax a little.

They all looked at Ali for around a minute, waiting for her to say something but she didn't. So Hanna lost her patience.

"Can you just tell us what the hell is going on already?!"

"Something's wrong." Ali finally blurted out, not caring if the girls would laugh at her if they really did find Emily sick on her bed.

"What's wrong?" Spencer asked leaning closer to the table.

"Emily was at my house yesterday afternoon and she left for this stupid swim meet and she promised she was going to come over as soon as she was done but she never did." Ali said, knowing how stupid she probably sounded.

"So? People sometimes blow other people off, that's no big deal." Hanna said as she ate a french fry.

"Yeah, but she never blows off Alison." Spencer stated as a fact.

"Did she at least give you an explanation?" Aria asked, following Spencer's lead.

"She was gone at 4 and I called her millions of times until 12 but her phone was off." Alison explained further, feeling a bit of relief because Spencer and Aria seemed to believe her.

"Emily never turns off her phone." Spencer added, trying to find unusual behavior in her story.

"Then she texted me in the morning and she said that she went straight home and that she 'fell asleep'." Ali made quotation marks with her fingers. "And then she added that she wasn't going to come to school today because she wasn't feeling well."

"Ali's right. Something's wrong." Spencer concluded and she took out her phone.

"What are you doing?" Ali asked as she saw Spencer dialing a number.

"I'm calling her." Spencer said as she put her phone on her ear. "It goes straight to voicemail."

"Again?" Ali asked, feeling her worry get worse.

"Guys! She's ok! She's probably just sleeping." Hanna tried to reason. "We're making a big deal out of little, insignificant details."

"Then YOU call her! See for yourself, her phone really is off." Aria said as she put her phone on the table after trying to call her, too.

"I would but I lost my phone." Hanna answered honestly, getting two grunts and an eye roll. "Seriously, we have no concrete proof to worry yet. Let's just go there after school and-"

"The only reason why you don't agree with us is because I was the one who started the worry-group. I was the one who mentioned it." Alison said sternly to Hanna, letting her hidden anger at her finally surface. "If Spencer would have started it, you'd already be in her house checking for yourself."

"This has nothing to do with you." Hanna answered angrily, taken aback by Ali's words.

"It has EVERYTHING to do with me." Ali muttered back, giving Hanna her old bitchy look. "Something could have happened to her and we're just sitting here debating whether it's important enough to look into or not!"

"Guys!" Spencer raised her voice in an attempt to shut them up. "Ali, you're right, something could be wrong and if something were to be wrong, fighting about it won't fix it."

Hanna and Ali stayed quiet.

Spencer checked her watch. "It's almost one, meaning that lunch is almost over. I'll skip next period and I'll go to Emily's and check up on her. I'll be back before next period ends so when it does, we meet in the bathroom and I'll tell you guys everything."

The girls all agreed, except Ali.

"Is it alright with you, Ali? Or do you want to come with me?"

"I can't. I can't keep missing school." Ali said as she broke her own heart because she wanted more than anything to go with Spencer.

"Okay." Spencer said shortly.

Ali looked away again, trying to blink the tears of frustration away.

"Ali, it'll be okay. She's probably in her bed, dreaming about you right now." Aria said, trying to calm Ali down.

But that only made her break and a soft sob came out of her mouth and she covered her eyes in an attempt to minimize her feelings because she never was good at showing any.

When Aria and Spencer saw her crying, they froze because Ali NEVER openly cried, maybe just once or twice, and they never really knew how to make her feel better without getting her to close up again. Hanna just rolled her eyes.

"Hey…" Aria was the first one to react and she got closer to Ali and took her hand. "Don't cry, she'll be okay…"

A louder sob came out of her fragile looking body and now people were staring but she didn't care. She was so tired of always keeping her cool, she needed a moment to break.

Spencer stood up from her seat and she kneeled in front of Alison so she would look at her. "Ali, I'm going to go now, okay? And I'll come back and I'll tell you that everything's alright and I'll even take you there after school."

Alison shook her head as she squinted her blue eyes and more tears fell out of them.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked gently, while Hanna just stared at the exchange, embarrassed of the attention they were all getting.

"She's not okay." Ali whispered out the forbidden words she wasn't willing to say out loud, which made her cry even harder. "I can feel it. She's not okay." Ali's voice shook as she said these words. "Spencer, something's so wrong and I don't know what it is."

Ali started to cry even harder, but quieter, while Spencer, Hanna, and Aria gave each other concerned looks because they started to feel the same fear Alison was feeling. And that was not good at all.

"Hey… Ali." Hanna finally spoke up.

Ali looked at her with tear-filled eyes, expecting a harsh comment, so she bit her lip in order to regain her calm.

"She'll be okay." Hanna finally said, feeling the genuine pain in Ali's words. "She always is."

Ali was surprised by Hanna's nice words that somehow made her feel better so she smiled in response and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Better?" Spencer asked as she stood up and looked down at her.

When Ali nodded, the bell rang.

"Good. I'm going to go now and we'll meet up in around 50 minutes. Deal?" Spencer said as she went to get her bag on the other side of the table.

"Deal." Aria and Hanna said in unison while Ali just nodded.

"Deal?" Spencer asked Ali again and Ali just whispered out "Deal."

"She'll be fine." Spencer said as she hugged Alison. "And if you're wrong, know that if I ever doubted you really loved her, you just proved to me that you do. So regardless, it's ok."

Ali gave her a real smile. "Thank you."

"Any time."

"Let's get you to class." Aria said as she took Ali's arm in a gentle, supportive manner and started walking her to class with Hanna.

-2 Hours Ago-

Just one more minute. One more minute until the bell rang and she'd meet up with Spencer and the rest of the girls in the usual bathroom. She didn't even know why she bothered going to class because she couldn't concentrate at all and her leg kept jumping up and down and the clock on the wall would go slower just to mock her.

50 seconds to go and her heart was pounding hard because Spencer hadn't answered any of her messages and neither had Emily and she was dreading to hear what Spencer had to say.

40 seconds to go and she was about to sprint out of the classroom but that would look bad and she couldn't handle another F.

30 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds.

She looked at the clock as it kept getting closer to her awaited time and then there were 5 seconds left. And then there were 4. And then there were 3. And then there were 2. And before the bell rang, she stood up and ran out of the classroom as the ringing took over the school when she was on the door.

Her classroom was the furthest away from their bathroom so she had to sprint to the other side of the school. She ran as quickly as she could and just when people were starting to get out of her way, she took a left turn and next thing she knew, she was on the floor, looking up at Paige, who was giving her a bewildered look.

"Alison?" Paige asked surprised as she saw her former enemy lying in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry." Ali said as she quickly stood up and tried to leave but Paige stopped her.

"Hey, I was wondering if um… If you knew where Emily was." A nervous, unconfident Paige asked.

Alison's heart broke a little more as she heard her girlfriend's name and she desired more than anything to be in that bathroom in that very moment to know what the hell was going on but Emily had asked her to be nicer to Paige so she had to fulfill her girlfriend's wishes. "I don't, I'm sorry."

"Oh, well um… Can you give her something?"

"Um, sure." Ali said.

Paige took out a folder out of her bag and with an awkward smile gave it to Ali. "She missed the swim meet, so I figured I could trust you to give this to her."

Ali's heart shattered. That was the confirmation she needed to know something was wrong.

"Is everything alright?" Paige asked, confused.

"Yeah." Ali said as she cleared her throat. "I'll give it to her." She took the folder and put it inside her bag as her hands shook.

"Thanks." Paige responded.

"You're welcome." Ali could spit out and as soon as she was about to run to the bathroom again, Paige talked again.

"Hey, um, I want you to know that I was wrong about you."

This somehow calmed Ali down a bit. "Oh?"

"You really have changed. I thought you were incapable of love but I was wrong." Paige said with a nervous laugh.

"Thanks." Ali said, honestly. "It really means a lot to me."

Paige just nodded and walked on the opposite direction. Ali stared at her as she walked away for a few seconds because she never would have thought she'd hear those words from HER. Any doubt she may have had on her progress was quickly gone and she had never been more thankful for Paige McCullers.

She got out of her happy cloud after Paige disappeared from sight and she remembered where she had to be in that very moment, so she ran to the bathroom, hoping that it was all a big misunderstanding and that Emily was in her house right now, really just thinking about her. As she got closer to the bathroom, the pounding in her heart took over her body. She knew that any information provided to her in that instant could either make her or break her and she wasn't sure how much she could handle at that moment.

Once she found herself in front of the bathroom, the shaking came back and her adrenaline was making her breathing a bit labored. But as the strong girl she had always been, she pushed the door open and looked at her three friends on the other side of the bathroom. Their faces made her stomach drop.

She stopped midway because she felt like the closer she got, the realer it would all feel. "What happened?"

The three girls gave each other nervous looks. She felt a tear run down her cheek.

"Guys?" Ali asked in a defeated whisper.

They all stayed quiet a few seconds longer, until Spencer, as always, took charge. "Ali…" Spencer started getting closer, obviously trying to sugar coat everything.

"WOULD YOU GUYS TELL ME ALREADY?!" Ali's desperation took over and the girls didn't even flinch because they'd react the same way.

"Emily's mom said Emily had texted her last night saying she was going to stay at Hanna's…" Spencer explained carefully.

Ali gulped.

"She didn't sleep over if that's what you're wondering…" Hanna clarified, and then later got gently elbowed by Aria.

"So she never got home?" Ali asked, her body and her voice shaking.

"No…"Spencer concluded.

"Fuck." Ali stated, all emotions somehow jumbled up in one word.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Aria asked, wondering if maybe that piece of information could help.

"Yesterday at 4. She was going to the swim meet but Paige just told me she never showed up." Ali explained as she reclined against the sink, trying to regain balance.

"Wait, you talked to Paige? Since when are you two in speaking manners?" Hanna asked Ali, knowing too well the fighting that was going on between the three of them.

"I don't think that's important right now, Han." Spencer stated, as in matter of factly.

"What does this mean?" Ali asked, looking at the three girls for answer, but they all looked as scared as she did to say what they were all thinking.

"Maybe it's not what we think…" Aria tried to pitch in.

"Aria, please, this has A written all over it." Hanna said as she pulled her hair back, worry finally hitting her.

"Let's not jump to conclusions." Spencer said as she tried to think.

"What else is there to think?!" Ali started to lose her temper. "No one knows where she is!"

"Maybe she wanted some alone time!" Spencer suggested. "I mean, remember last time she was gone? She was just running in the woods."

Aria and Hanna nodded, remembering very well that tragic day.

"We still don't know where she is! We don't know shit!" Ali screamed.

"Ali, calm down…" Aria tried to control Ali, but her inner bomb had just exploded.

"No! I will NOT calm down! I will NOT calm down until I know where EMILY IS!" She screamed as loudly as she could, not caring who would listen. The echo of her voice filled the silence in the room for a few seconds until…

They all panicked the second they heard their phones ring, fearing the worst. No one dared to move, not even Hanna who didn't even have her phone with her, until Ali was brave enough to slowly take her phone out of her pocket. Everyone just looked at her, waiting for her to read the dreaded text message. Ali slowly unlocked her phone and as soon as she read the text, her hands started shaking again.

Her eyes got watery, her lungs could no longer breathe properly, and she felt physically sick.

"Ali…?" Aria said, waiting for Ali to read it.

Ali gulped, her mouth suddenly feeling too dry. "Here's the address. You got one hour and forty minutes…" She started reading. "See you soon… -A."

-20 Minutes Ago-

"Guys, are we sure this is a good idea? This sounds like a suicidal plan." Spencer said as she parked in front of an abandoned building in Ravenswood.

"There's no other option, Spencer." Ali said, looking at the apparent warehouse carefully. "We already drove all this way, there's no turning back."

"Especially with all that traffic." Hanna added. "And Spencer getting lost a few times."

"I'm just saying that we're falling RIGHT into A's trap. Emily may not even be here." Spencer argumented.

"It's all we have, Spence." Hanna said, supporting Ali. "And we only have 40 more minutes so it's best to just go inside and if it's a trap so be it, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that something happened to her and I didn't do anything about it."

"We could just call the police." Spencer suggested. They all gave her the "are you serious?" look so she just rolled her eyes. "Or we could go look for Miss Grunwald and tell her where we are and she could help us if we don't get out. I mean, we ARE in Ravenswood."

"She's a hard woman to find and I don't know where she may be right now." Alison said.

"Looks like there's no other option then." Aria concluded.

"Looks like it." Spencer finally agreed.

"So, are we going in or what?" Hanna asked, her impatience surfacing for the hundredth time that day.

They all looked at Ali, even Spencer, waiting for the blonde to make the decision since they all knew A kidnapped Emily because of her.

The blonde nodded, finally feeling like the leader she always had been again, making her gain some confidence. "We are, we just need a plan."

The other three girls nodded as they kept staring at her, making Alison, oddly, feel a bit uncomfortable because the attention was becoming too much. "What?"

"Tell us the plan." Aria voiced all of their thoughts.

Ali, in the front seat next to Spencer, gulped because she honestly had no idea. She wasn't thinking straight at all and she found it ridiculous that they all suddenly treat her like a leader again when she was about to break. She knew they probably wouldn't do that again in a while and that she should have enjoyed it, but the only plan she could think of was to kill A and also save Emily. Unfortunately, they couldn't have ANOTHER death on their backs so she pretty much was clueless because her love for Emily was blinding her. She looked at Spencer, pleadingly, and Spencer quickly understood.

"Ok, well, the perimeter or the warehouse is small and not only that, but it's far away from society. Meaning that the only few cars that drive through here could be able to hear a faint scream, that's if they have their windows down and they're dead silent, and they could also see us running." Spencer explained as she continued eying the warehouse and the empty parking.

"So that means that we're on our own?" Hanna asked.

"That's exactly what it means." Alison agreed with Spencer, feeling terror slowly creep up to her.

"We went around the warehouse and there was only one visible exit, meaning that we either have to find another exit if things get too bad or bombard the main one." Spencer added on.

"A is not going to let that happen." Ali argumented against Spencer.

"Well, maybe if the five of us attack together, it may."

"You are underestimating A. Honestly, making a plan is worthless considering the fact that A has already a plan of its own." Ali bickered a bit against Spencer, while Aria and Hanna watched the exchange, not knowing whose side to pick.

"Ali, we can't just play A's game without having a next move." Spencer defended her line of thoughts.

"We can't plan a next move without knowing what we're going to find once we step inside the warehouse!"

"We need a plan!"

"Yes, because your group plans always worked so well for you four." Ali said sarcastically, pissing Spencer off.

"It's kept us, our families, and our friends ALIVE. I think that counts as SOMETHING."

Ali stayed quiet.

"I get it, apparently you work alone and you just come up with a plan inside and do whatever the hell you want, but we're a team. You can't go and save your ass and leave us behind." Spencer tried to make Ali understand.

Ali sighted. "Fine. Here's the plan: we go inside, we save Emily, and get out." She looked at Spencer, challenging her, but Spencer just stared. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Ali…"

"Every minute we waste trying to figure out a way to beat A, A is beating us by keeping Emily hostage." They all stay quiet, knowing Ali speaks the truth. "So let's just go with this. Each one of us has to find a way to save Emily. We won't split up, we'll stay together, but if A makes us split up, then we'll divide each other in two teams. Team Sparia and Team Halison. That way A can get confused with hair colors and it's harder for it to identify us."

"It's a stupid reason, but why not." Hanna agreed, surprising Ali, because she thought she wasn't going to want to be paired up with her.

"We make sure we don't lose our buddy and when one of us finds Emily, we find a way to let the others now we did. Although it probably won't be necessary, considering how small it looks. Deal?"

"That's your plan? You didn't even talk about how the hell we are we gonna get out of there." Spencer argued.

"I'm with Ali on this one, Spence. We have..." Aria checked her phone. "30 minutes left to go inside and I feel bad for Emily because she's probably messed up in there."

"Yeah, let's just see how it goes. We always make it work." Hanna agreed, earning a smirk from Ali.

"Fine!" Spencer said. "Majority rules."

"So, let's go." Ali opened the car door and got out, not bothering to look back and they all did the same.

Ali and Hanna walked together at a fast pace, considering they were both the closest to Emily. Hanna would have preferred to be teamed up with any other girl… but at least they both shared the common goal of wanting Emily back the most. Not that Spencer and Aria didn't love her, but their link with Emily was deeper.

Aria and Spencer walked a few steps behind, as Spencer continued eying their surroundings. Then she proceeded to take her phone out and she started to type in things.

"Watcha doing?" Aria asked as she noticed Spencer's various sudden movements.

"You'll see." Spencer said as she put her phone away.

Ali and Hanna stopped right in front of the main entrance, waiting for the others to catch up.

"Are you guys ready?" Ali asked her three friends, her heart pounding.

Spencer and Aria just nodded their heads, but Hanna bent over and stood straight again with a shiny object on her hand.

"Ready." Hanna said, with her left hand raised with the knife in position to stab somebody.

"Hanna, what the hell?" Aria asked.

"Is that a small pocket knife?" Spencer asked, also confused.

"Yes, yes it is." Hanna confirmed.

"Hanna, put that away, you could hurt yourself." Spencer tried to take the knife away from Hanna, but Hanna just pulled her hand back.

"Fine!" She bent over and she put it in her sock again. "I'll use it later."

"Wait, did you change your heels to sneakers in the car?" Aria asked.

"Guys!" Ali whispered loudly, earning their attention. "Can we concentrate?"

The girls stayed quiet behind Alison, letting her take the lead since she was the one who was the most upset about Emily. Ali got closer to the door and slowly twisted the doorknob. She held her breath as she slowly pushed the door open, the creaking of the door ringing in her ears.

She wanted to go inside so badly… But she knew that whatever A had planned was going to be much worse than what they thought. She was brave, regardless, so she pushed the door completely and what she saw inside this apparent small warehouse, gave her Goosebumps.

For a second she thought she was imagining things, but Hanna's gasp made her cross out the theory.

The lights were dim, not dim enough to not let them see, but dim enough to let them see the light inside the dolls that were guiding their way. Right in front of the girls, there was a staircase going down, with dolls taped to the rails. The 4 friends involuntarily held hands, and let Ali follow the doll trail, with them closely behind her. Each doll was different, some were light-skinned, others were dark skinned, others were blonde, they even saw a few brunettes.

"This is giving me the creeps." Aria said, as she glanced at the bottom of the short staircase and the dolls that were on the floor.

The rest of the girls stayed quiet as they continued descending.

Once Ali's foot touched the bottom, an alarm erupted, panicking the girls.

"INTRUDER! ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" The alarm kept repeating over and over as they covered their ears and looked at each other.

"Guys! This is crazy!" Spencer tried to talk over the alarm. "This is a trap! We have to go back!"

"We can't!" Ali screamed back at Spencer. "A has Emily!"

"I'm with Spencer on this one! We have to go!" Hanna said as she turned around and tried to walk up the stairs, but the sudden stop of the alarm stopped her.

The girls slowly put their hands down as they glanced around expecting something to pop out of nowhere because it was too fucking quiet. Each one of them felt their heart beat fast because they could barely breathe, the anxiety becoming too much.

They stayed quiet for what felt like an hour, until Hanna broke the silence.

"I think we should really go…" Hanna whispered out, too scared to speak abruptly.

And then they heard a microphone turn on.

Their eyes were about to pop out of their heads when they heard someone tap it twice.

"You think the truth is some shiny ball of purity." Ali heard her voice tremble around the warehouse.

Then there was silence.

"Say it enough and you'll actually start to believe it." Hanna and the girls gasped when they heard the second familiar voice.

More silence.

"Is this why you killed her? Because she found your home movies?" Spencer felt herself pass out a bit.

Silence. This time, Ali spoke up. "A is here. That means we need to keep going."

The girls silently looked at each other in fear, but agreed that what Ali said was true. They needed to keep going.

So they started to walk through the triple M-shaped doll trail A had for them. And then they heard Aria's voice.

"Bitch can see!"

That made Hanna giggle a bit but then she remembered where she was and she stopped laughing.

As they kept walking, the phrases started going faster.

"If lying was a crime, we'd all be in jail!"

"It's immortality, my darlings!"

"You know what they say about hope? Breeds eternal misery."

They started walking faster and faster as the words started becoming more slurred and their hearts were about to jump out of their chests.

"Jenna would kill and eat her own-"

"I'm the weakest link. And the weakest link wants-"

"My dignity broke the-"

"If you ignore it-"

"It's like a-"

"You're gone and I'm so-"

And it went on and on and on until they went to the end of the trail and then it just stopped, silence taking over again.

The trail led them to the staircase of the warehouse's basement.

"A wants us to go to the basement?" Aria asked.

"I guess so." Spencer said and just on cue, they heard the rain hit the metal-like roof.

Ali looked at the girls, waiting for some silent approval because she no longer felt like the hero she did a few minutes ago. She knew they wanted to go back and she knew that this was crazy… And she loved Emily endlessly but Spencer was right, this was starting to look a lot like a suicide and it was Ali's fault they were in this mess, so she shouldn't have made them come. But surprisingly, the other three girls nodded back at her and she knew that they weren't going to back down now. She felt guilty but at least she felt supported.

So they started descending yet another flight of stairs, this one with a door in the bottom. Once they reached the bottom, Ali pressed her ear against the door, trying to hear something.

"Ali, go inside." Spencer whispered softly.

"Wait, I'm trying to listen for movement."

"JUST GO INSIDE!" Hanna screamed, wanting to get out of there already. And right after Hanna screamed, Ali heard a grunt of the other side. And she knew exactly who it was from.

She opened the door quickly and she saw her. On the other side of the room, around 50 feet away, on the floor, handcuffed.

"Emily!" Ali screamed, in both panic and relief and they all ran towards her. But just when they were about to reach her, they felt various hands pulling them backwards.

They didn't have to turn around to see all the black hooded people holding them back.

-Present Time-

"Do something!" Hanna's voice shakes her core and the sound of A attempting to shut Hanna up freaks her out even more.

With nowhere to go, nowhere to run away too, Ali feels hopeless and she doesn't know what to do next.

"Please…" Ali whispers out. "What do you want me to do? Please, I'll do anything."

They hear the sound of a microphone turning on again and each liar knows that what they're about to hear won't be very pleasant.

Again, someone taps the microphone twice. After the tapping echoes the basement and possibly the warehouse, a distorted voice bounces off the speakers.

"Hello, girls."

It was the same delicate voice that told Hanna to stop her father's wedding, so her heart stops. It was the same voice that made Aria make Jackie go away, so her legs tremble. It was the same voice that made Spencer break up with Toby, so she finally stops fighting against the figures. And it was the same voice that brought Emily to Ali. Now it's the voice that's going to bring Ali to her. The irony.

"As you can see, time is running out."

Ali looks at the clock. 18:01.

"So you better do as I say, or something terrible, terrible will happen when that timer hits zero." The doll like voice giggles.

Ali gulps.

Everyone stays quiet, no one even dares to move.

"Understood?" The voice asks a few seconds later.

"Yes!" Ali speaks up, a hint of attitude in her voice. "What do we do?!"

The voice giggles. "Excellent. Now, team, bring the stuff out."

Two of the ten black hooded figures around them open a closet in the basement. From there, they pull out a camera from a shelf and a chair.

"Oh no…" Spencer whispers out.

One of the figures opens the chair and places it against a wall. The other figure turns on the camera, facing the chair and the wall.

"Your task is simple. Just answer my questions in front of the camera!" The voice says.

"This can't be good…" Spencer mutters to herself as she looks at all of her friends, including Emily, all having something in mind already.

"Let's start with you, Spencer, since you seem so impatient to leave."

The figures holding her back push her forward and drag her to the chair. After they drag her, they force her to sit down while Spencer resisted. Once she sits down, the figures surround her from a distance so they don't appear in the shot.

"Now Spencer…" The voice says. "Smile to the camera and say your name."

Spencer's face remains motionless. "Spencer Hastings. My name is Spencer Hastings."

"Now… Remember that video your dear sister sent you?"

Spencer tenses.

"I believe you do."

Aria, Hanna, and Emily look away because this was going to be too hard to watch. Ali is a bit clueless but she thinks she knows where A is going with this.

"Now tell us, what did the video contain?"

Spencer stays quiet.

"There's 16 minutes left, Spencer."

Spencer closes her eyes.

"I'm going to ask you again. What did the video contain?"

"A confession!" Spencer screams.

"Will you please say the confession to the camera?" The voice pushes on.

Spencer looks down before speaking. "In the video Melissa sent me, she talks about how the night Alison disappeared, I was dragging a shovel across some backyards. She followed me to see where I was going and apparently on my trail, there was a girl with a yellow tank top and blonde hair lying on the floor. She buried her alive because she thought I had killed her and she wanted to protect me."

Ali, unlike the other girls, pays close attention to Spencer because she doesn't know about the video or about that part of the story.

"Did you? Kill the girl, I mean." The voice annoyingly keeps asking.

"I don't remember. I was drugged." Spencer confesses, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Thank you, Spencer. Next." The voice orders and the figures get close to Spencer again and they pull her up and take her to her original position.

"Hanna and Aria, please go to your places." The voice continues ordering and the A's also forcefully drag the other girls. "Aria, please sit down. Hanna, stand next to her."

The girls do as A wishes while a dark figure takes the tape off of Hanna's mouth quickly, making her lips burn.

"Say your names."

"Aria Montgomery." Aria says.

"Hanna Marin." Hanna adds on.

"Good." The voice says. "Now, Aria, I have a question for you." The room is silent for a few seconds to add suspense. "Did you know Shana Fring?"

Aria's lower lips trembles and her hands start shaking. "I-I did." She stutters.

"How did you know her?"

Aria audibly takes a breath and looks everywhere but to the camera. "I knew Shana from school." She feels Hanna's hand on her shoulder, giving her support.

"Now tell me, were you two good friends?"

Aria keeps trembling. "No. Shana and I weren't good friends."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

Aria stays quiet, tears starting to fall from her eyes. Hanna squeezes her shoulder, attempting to make things better.

"I-I don't know." Aria answers.

"You're lying."

"I-I-I"

"Tell me the truth." The voice keeps pressuring her.

"I can't." A sob leaves Aria's body.

She sees the scene she kept trying to block out for a while now play in front of her. Shana is right in front of her, next thing she's not. They say that things get better with time, but this was something she knew she was never going to get over. Something she was never going to forget. Every time someone mentions the word "murder", the word "death", she feels a drop of sweat sliding down her cheek. She feels like everyone around her knew she killed Shana and they were soon going to make her pay for it. She can't stop thinking about Shana and the bright future she had in front of her, which makes it all the worse. But she's dead and it's her fault and Shana's last words and Shana's last face expression will forever be glued to her mind.

When she comes back to reality, she finds herself uncontrollably sobbing, with Hanna trying to make it better.

"12 minutes, Montgomery." The voice reminds her, which makes her sob even harder.

Aria's sobs also echo the basement and no one knows what to do. The four girls look at each other as Aria cries, each one of them heartbroken in their own way.

"11 minutes."

"Hey!" Hanna screams, breaking. "Leave her alone!"

Silence fills the empty space once again.

"We're done! We're not doing this! We're done taking orders from doll-sounding bitch!"

Hanna's words end with a bang; literally. They all scream and look at the source of the sound and they see a hole in the pipe in which Emily is handcuffed to. A is aiming a gun at the pipe and Emily has her head in between her arms.

"Emily!" Ali screams as she tries to stand up from the floor, but another figure runs up to her and pulls her down again.

"That was just a warning." The voice explains.

Emily looks up and sees Ali's bewildered look in her eyes. She keeps trying to make eye contact to calm Ali down and after a few seconds, she manages to do so.

"Are you ready to talk now?" The voice asks.

Aria nods, still trembling and blinking away the tears.

"When was the last time you saw Shanna Fring?"

"The last time I saw her she was on the floor, dead." Aria admits, still crying.

"And why is that?"

"Because…" Aria's lower lips continues quivering. "I…" She takes a breath and it comes out as a sob. "K-killed her." She closes her eyes and the tears fall freely from her eyelids.

"Now Hanna, is this true?" The voice asks, satisfaction in her voice.

"Yes, it is…" Hanna lowers her eyes.

"How do you know it's true?"

"Because I was there…" Hanna reaches her Aria's hands and squeezes it. "I saw her kill her."

"So Aria, are you an assassin? A murderer? A soul thief?" The voice continues pressing on.

"No, no I-" Aria tries to explain but her words are slurred.

"You, you what, Aria?"

"I, I had to do it." Aria tries to talk in between tears.

"She was trying to save us!" Ali intervenes from a far, trying to defend her friend.

The A figure next to her kicks her hard in the ribs, making Ali groan.

"Hush, hush, Alison." The voice says and then there's silence again.

Everyone stays quiet again, anxious. Aria continues crying silently, while Hanna keeps trying to be her rock. The figures are unsure of what to do next, but they seem ready for any task they are commanded to do. Ali looks at Emily, trying to find a place to get strength from because she knows that A has the worst part reserved for her. She sees how Emily still has her head in between her arms. She was probably exhausted. Ali heart breaks all over again thinking about what A probably did to her. She secretly hates herself because this was all because of her. She knows that and everybody knows that and she wishes things were different but they aren't. She wishes more than anything to find a way to fix this… To be able to undo her past. But she knows it's impossible so the only thing she can do is fix her present and try to make a better future. And there's only one way to do that…

Ali looks at Emily again once she accepts what she has to do.

"Alison." The voice wakes her up from her thoughts. "Don't think I've forgotten about you."

Ali sights as her A picks her up from the floor and she sees how Hanna and Aria are taken away. She sits voluntarily on the chair and looks straight at the camera, without question.

"Name." The voice says.

"I'm Alison DiLaurentis."

"Alison DiLaurentis." The voice repeats. "The girl who disappeared and was allegedly murdered only to be found alive a while later."

Ali stays quiet and serious.

"How does it feel to be back?"

Ali looks at the other girls, who are paying close attention to her. She looks at the camera again. "It's feels nice to be home."

"Would you tell us about your kidnapping story?"

Ali gulps. "I was blindfolded and-"

"The REAL version." The voice interjects and corrects.

Ali moves her head from side to side in an attempt to crack her neck. No bones crack. "I was hit in the head the night I disappeared, my mother buried me alive, so I ran away and didn't bother to come back."

"So why did you say you were kidnapped?"

"I said I was kidnapped because if I told the truth, my friend Aria's secret about Shana would be exposed."

"So you lied for a friend?"

"I did." Ali starts to tap her thighs rapidly.

"Okay." Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

And then… "What happened to Bethany Young?"

She feels her face get pale. The shaking she had left behind has softly come back again. The air, for some odd reason couldn't get to her lungs and she feels she is about to pass out.

"Alison?" The voice asks, knowing it has hit a soft spot.

Ali licks and smacks her lips. She looks at Spencer, Aria, and Hanna, who are all giving her the usual doubtful look. They're looking at her again like she's the enemy and she doesn't know how to handle that right now. She looks at Emily, who had lifted her head a while ago, and she's looking at her like she no longer had her trust. Ali feels the tears gather in her eyes.

"I'm asking one more time. What happened to Bethany Young?"

Ali's breath comes out shakily. She has to answer. She knows she has to answer. She looks at the clock. 5 minutes left. She knows she has to answer because even if she loses Emily for this, she rather lose her because of trust issues then to lose her because of death. She takes another breath.

She has to say it, she has to say it.

And just when she's about to open her mouth, the basement door opens.

"THIS IS THE POLICE!" A man in a police uniform and a gun in hand breaks in. "KEEP YOUR HANDS WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

And chaos erupts.

The girls raise their hands while they're getting pushed by running A's. The one behind Hanna tries to take her with it, so she starts screaming for help. Two more police officers come in and try to block the entrance but they're being trampled by the hoodied people so some start getting away. Spencer sees Toby in one of the uniforms and smiles.

"No! Help!" Hanna continues screaming.

"Toby! Do something!" Spencer screams, being pushed to the back of the room, unable to do something.  
>"I'm a little busy right now!" Toby screams back as he tries to stand up again by kicking one of the figures.<p>

Aria, who is the closest to Hanna, rushes to the rescue. "Hey!" She says and the figure looks at her and she uses that opportunity to punch it right in the nose. The figure loses its balance a bit, so she uses this chance to bend it over and she knees it on the face. Another figure behind Aria tries to grab her by the arm, but she manages to twist its arm before it has a hard grip on her and then she kicks it in the chest repeatedly, making the person fall back.

The other A figure tries to hurt Aria but Hanna stabs him on the side with the pocket knife she has on her foot. The A grunts as Hanna screams, "That's what you get for being an asshole!" She pulls the knife back and he runs away, followed by the other A who tried to hurt Aria.

"That Jake taught you well." Hanna comments as she sees the remaining A's trying to make a run for it, one of them physically fighting with Toby.

"That knife was useful." Aria comments back, trying to fix her hair.

Hanna looks at the blood in the knife. "Ew."

"Guys!" Ali screams from a few feet away, kneeling in front of Emily.

The remaining three girls jog and kneel next to them.

Ali quickly tries to take the scarf out of Emily's mouth and just when she does so, Emily takes a deep breath.

"Finally." She says with barely any breath left in her. "I can breathe properly."

Ali then smashes her lips against Emily's without even thinking about it, missing the taste of her girlfriend and her warmth.

"Don't scare me like that again!" Ali says, her voice breaking.

"I won't." Emily says, looking at Ali.

Ali kisses her hard again and then she hugs her tight, so the rest of the girls form a group hug around the two of them.

"Are you guys ok?" Toby asks as he joins them, panting.

"Yeah." Spencer stands up and kisses him. "I was wondering if you were going to show."

"Wait, you told him to come?" Hanna asks.

"Well, since Ali couldn't come up with a plan…" Spencer looks at Ali who is too distracted kissing Emily all over her face again. "I decided to text him and give him the address so he could bring some of his police buddies to help."

"We aren't officially part of the force yet, so I called these two friends and told them to help me out with something. In police uniforms. They came and they seem to have enjoyed it, especially the speeding through the streets."

"My hero." Spencer says as she hugs him and kisses him again. Once they stop, Toby notices the knife in Hanna's hand.

"What's that?"

"Oh." Hanna tries to explain. "I stabbed one of the people here."

"That's good!" Spencer states, excited. "Maybe we could use the blood to identify this person!"

"Not to mention we managed to catch one." Toby adds on.

"Perfect! We can use them and maybe even figure out who's Big A! And we can also-"

"Spencer!" Ali screams to get her attention.

The others look at her.

"As much as I like the chit chat, there's two minutes left until the clock strikes zero and I don't want to be here when it happens. We have to get Emily out of here!" Ali adds on.

"I saw a key in one of the dolls back up there. Maybe it's the one." Spencer suggests.

"Then go get it!" Ali says and Spencer leaves the room with Toby.

"Don't worry Em, we'll get you out." Ali says to Emily and then she proceeds to give her a sweet, long kiss on the lips.

-A Few Minutes Later-

"I guess nothing happened." Aria says as they look at the warehouse, the timer already hitting zero a while ago.

"That's good." Spencer adds.

"The fact that A has the camera with our confessions recorded in it isn't so good." Hanna disagrees.

"It's not." Spencer says and they all stay quiet.

"So now what?" Hanna asks, trying to break the silence.

"Well, we can all leave in our cars back to Rosewood. I do have to take this guy to the police department." Toby suggests.

"Can we leave in a few minutes?" Ali asks. "I want to be able to breathe again before I get in a car."

"Okay." Toby says. "Just tell me when you want to go." He leaves with Spencer to his friend's car, hand in hand.

Aria looks at Emily and Ali. Ali has her head on Emily's chest and her arm around Emily's stomach. Emily with one hand is holding her girlfriend's arm and with the other she's holding the bottle of water she's drinking.

"Ali, can I ask you a question?" Aria asks, delicately.

"Sure." She says with an innocent voice, trying to pretend she doesn't know what she's about to ask.

"What do you know about Bethany?" Aria asks, with a low voice.

The accusation in her voice makes Ali want to laugh but she knows she can't do that right now. The tension arises again and she swears she feels Emily's grip around her arm loosen, so she steps away and says, "I know who killed her."

Hanna, Aria, and Emily all look at her, surprise in their faces.

"Who?" Hanna asks, not sure if she wants to know or not.

"Can we talk about this later?" Ali asks, feeling uncomfortable. "Please?"

Hanna and Aria stay quiet because they obviously want to know in order to have more answers then questions, but Emily intervenes. "It's ok. Whenever you're ready."

Ali smiles at her. "Thanks." When the awkward silence follows, Ali speaks up. "Mind if I go call someone?"

"No, it's ok." Emily says. "Want me to come with you?"

"No, it's ok." Ali says. "I love you, though."

"I love you, too."

Aria and Hanna discretely walk away to give them some time alone.

"You saved me. Again." Emily says, blushing.

"I did." Ali says with a smile on her face.

Ali then gets closer and she grabs Emily's face with both hands.

"I love you, ok? Never forget how much I love you. Never forget that everything I do from now on will be about you. Never forget that if I have to risk my life a thousand times more in order to keep you safe, I will." Ali says as she looks at her straight in the eyes.

"I won't forget it." Emily says as she looks back at her, Ali's words making her heart melt.

"I love you, so much."Ali kisses her one more time and then she steps away. "Promise me you won't forget it."

"I promise but…" Emily gives her a worried look. "Are you okay, babe?"

Ali fakes a smile. "I am more than okay because you're okay."

Emily smiles at her. "I love you."

And "I love you, but I'll be right back."

"I love you, more. And go, it's ok, I'll join Hanna and Aria who are over there."

"Okay." She kisses her before she walks away.

"Okay."

Ali walks to the car, she opens the door, and she takes her cellphone.

She looks back at her friends and girlfriend to make sure no one was watching her, so she walks a bit further away to make sure no one could hear her.

She presses the call button and she hears it ring once. It rings twice. And then she hears the phone click.

"Bonjour, my dear Alison!" She hears a woman say on the other line.

"Cece?" Ali asks.

"Yes, how are you?"

"Ali avoids the question. "Are you still in Paris?"

"I am. Why? Are you finally coming over?"

Ali sights. "I am."

"Did Emily dump you?"

"No, but, let's just say A doesn't approve of your relationship."

"Oh." Cece understands quickly. "When are you coming?"

"Give me a week."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"I'll see you here then." Cece says and then hangs up.

Ali slowly takes her phone off of her ear. She looks at Emily one last time, who's laughing at something Hanna said. She feels a tear running down her face.

When her sight feels too unbearable, she turns around and runs to the woods without looking back. She knows Emily was never going to forgive her. She knows that the girls will talk shit about her to Emily. She knows this will make an even bigger case with the police, but right now she doesn't care. She needs to keep Emily safe and the only way to do so was with her away. With her gone. She needs to disappear and never come back.

SO a few minutes after she gets tired of running, she stops, she texts Emily a quick "I'm sorry", she throws her phone to the river on the right and she promises herself that she would never contact Emily again.

As she walks away, she starts crying.


	2. Chapter 2

48 Hours

48 Hours until the clock strikes 12 and its Christmas in Rosewood.

Emily should be happy about that, since it's her favorite Holiday and all, but none of them felt too Christmasy, especially after Mona's murder. Not even the movie Elf, which she was currently watching, turned her frown upside down.

After Ali left town, all hell broke loose and Mona got enough "proof" to lead on the girls to believe Alison was A again. Apparently, the whole Emily kidnap was planned and when things didn't go her way, she ran away because she got what she needed to screw the girls over. And once she left, A had disappeared with her, making everything even shadier.

Emily kept defending her, saying that she would have known about it since they were together all of the time, but the rest were in doubt especially since she left and broke Emily's heart in the process.

Then more proof against Ali was found, since Mona and Spencer found out that Bethany and Ali DID know each other, something Ali had failed to mention. And not only that, but apparently they were family since Mrs. DiLaurentis had a special bond with her and she kept visiting her in Radley. And not only that, but apparently Mrs. D. bought the deceased a horse and she and Ali would ride together sometimes.

Everything seemed to point back to Ali and everyone but Emily was admitting it.

After giving the girls all the proof she could get against Ali, Mona was mysteriously murdered and that seemed to convince Spencer and Hanna that Mona was right; Ali HAD to be the enemy.

Aria didn't know what to believe, so she decided to stay neutral for Emily.

But of course, Emily was devastated because not only was the love of her life gone, but everyone had turned AGAINST the love of her life. She was back to where she started and that honestly couldn't be more depressing.

Her phone vibrates and her heart beats, still hoping after all this time that Ali would spare her some pain and at least sends her one lousy text, but her phone says its Hanna calling and her body can't suppress her groan.

"Hello?" She picks up, stuffing some popcorn into her mouth.

"I'm picking you up tomorrow at 10! Get ready!" Hanna tells her.

"What for, H-" And before she can answer completely, Hanna hangs up.

Emily puts her phone aside and heads off to bed, knowing the next morning was going to be exhausting.

-36 Hours Till Christmas-

"Em!" Emily hears Hanna say, snapping her back to reality. "You need to help me choose!"

"Sorry." The brunette mumbles, facing her remaining blonde friend. "Um, that one looks nice."

Hanna models the dress she's trying on, twirling it around a bit. "Nice as in it's hot enough for all of Rosewood's lesbians to start hitting on me? Or should I check the lingerie?" She winks playfully at the brunette.

"Ha-ha." Emily fake laughs. "Very funny. Seriously, though, we need to hurry up."

"Come on, it's not every year that you get to spend Christmas Eve with your boyfriend and your best friends. I want to look good."

"Hanna, you do. That dress looks perfect, can we please go?"

Hanna sighs as she looks at a defeated Emily. She slowly walks up to her and sits on the empty chair next to her closest friend. "I can't shop without thinking about Mona." She says, staring at the dressing room in front of them. "That's why I asked you to come, because I can barely try on some clothes without wanting to cry and I knew you'd keep me distracted."

Emily rubs her temples. "I know." She admits. "Although you should have asked Aria to come, you know shopping isn't my favorite hobby and that tiny girl knows how to dress better than most of Rosewood." She tries to enlighten the mood, earning a smile from Hanna.

"I know, but I felt like you needed a distraction too. You barely even talk to us anymore."

Emily sighs heavily. "It's okay."

"It's not, look I know how it feels to be abandoned. I know how hard it can be. But Alison? She's bad news and you know it."

"We don't know anything for sure." Emily protests.

Hanna looks at Emily and shakes her head."Fine. I'm not going to make you see anything you don't want to see."

Emily nods, looking away.

Hanna stands up and walks back to the dressing room. "You know I love you, right?"

"I do." Emily smiles.

"I'll do anything to keep you safe."

"I know."

Hanna faces the mirror again. "I think this one really IS the one."

"Finally!" Emily exclaims. "My body can't take anymore walking."

Hanna stays quiet.

"What?"

"I still need some shoes..."

-33 Hours till Christmas-

To say Emily was tired was an understatement. Even if she was an athlete, her feet felt like they were on fire and walking around their huge mall was enough workout for the day. After finding the "perfect" shoes for Hanna, they decided to eat somewhere nice since they were both starving. After eating, Hanna decided it was best for both of them to head back home so they can cook whatever they needed to cook for the following's day small get together at Spencer's, or buy a gift for the Secret Santa thing.

She arrives to her home and is a bit surprised to find it empty, since she thought her mother was going to be there getting ready for her father's arrival. She puts her keys down on the counter and decides to give her a call but she doesn't pick up, so she sets her phone aside and heads upstairs to rest for a while (resting at 3 was not a crime, thank you very much).

Once she reaches her room, she takes of her jacket and throws it on the bed.

She knows A is always around. She knows A probably has a hidden camera in her room because that's the only way it can know everything. She knows she constantly feels watched but right now, she feels as if someone else is in the room. She tries to play it cool, so if anyone was really inside she could catch them, but then she hears her room's door close.

She quickly turns around, ready for a battle, and cursing herself for leaving her phone downstairs (she should know better by now), but when she sees the person in front of her everything starts spinning.

"Hey, Em." The person says and Emily knows she's staring too hard and that she probably looks pissed (as always) but that's because she is. How dare she randomly break in her house after leaving her like that?! So she stays quiet.

The blonde takes a cautious step forward, fearing that if she moved too fast, Emily might collapse right in front of her. "Em?" She takes another step. "Please say something..."

And before she knows it, Emily walks right up to her, determination in her eyes. She smiles, expecting a kiss because that's what somebody gets from a loved one after being gone for a while. But instead of Emily's lips, she feels her hand on her right cheek, slapping her hard.

The blonde lifts her right hand and touches her cheek, slowly looking at Emily again. "I guess I deserved that." She admits.

"You certainly did, Ali." The brunette then wraps her arms around Alison's neck, taking her in for a long, tight, hug. The blonde wraps her own arms around Emily's hips, getting closer. And then the taller girl whispers, "You certainly did."

"So when did you get back?" Emily asks Alison, once they sit on the bed, calming her initial shock.

"Around a day ago." She answers.

"Can I ask where you disappeared to? And when?"

Alison looks away.

"I guess I can't."

"I went to Paris." Alison admits, deciding it is best to just tell her. "With Cece. Around a week after we last saw each other." She glances downward.

"Oh." Emily simply replies.

"Oh?" The blonde questions, facing her again.

"Nothing."

Ali smiles. "Don't be jealous, we'll go together to sweet Pawe soon." She jokes in a French accent, making Emily blush a bit.

They stay quiet for a while, neither one of them knowing what to do or say next. In the last month and a half, Emily made a really long mental list of questions she wanted to ask Alison. The Bethany thing, why she left, why she had to lie… But now the list seemed to disappear and all she is left with is her painful shred of hope.

"Why did you come back?" She asks, guided by the same hope that's breaking her heart.

Ali breathes in and out before answering. "For many reasons, actually. First, my dad is going to sell the house…"

"What?" Emily asks, her disbelief apparent.

"Yeah. I, um, I kept in touch with him so he wouldn't worry too much. He also thought that it was best for me to leave and he encouraged it so much that he's sending me money weekly." She gets off track and when she sees the pain behind Emily's awkward gestures, she decides to just give her an answer. "But that's not the point, the point is that he's selling the house and he asked me to come back yesterday so I can pack up some things I want to keep and meet up with him in New York by tomorrow because he bought an apartment there and we're going to spend Christmas together."

"Then you'll go back to Paris?"

"I don't know yet." Ali answers honestly. "Paris is nice, I even got a job and I'm attempting to finish school over there. But it's too… lonely, sometimes."

"Aren't you with Cece?"

"Yeah, but she made some friends before I arrived and I don't feel like being with a lot of Frech people constantly."

Emily nods, understanding the want of being alone.

"And…" Ali continues. "I also came back because I wanted to see you…"

Emily sighs. "I figured you were going to show up." She admits as she stands up to walk to the window. "I just thought it'd be on Christmas morning and you'd go all 'surprise, bitch thought you'd seen the last of me?' on us."

Ali snickers. "That's something the old me would have done, although I did consider it."

Emily stares at some friends running down the streets.

"So where are your Christmas decorations?" Ali asks, genuinely curious. "Yours are always the best."

"I didn't feel like decorating this year." Emily answers, trying hard to control her urge to kiss or hit her again. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do exactly.

"Why?"

Now Emily is the one who snickers. She faces her and starts talking. "Why? Well for starters, my girlfriend, after I get kidnapped, suddenly disappears leaving no trace behind. Just a miserable text that says and I quote 'I'm sorry'. Then I had to live, praying to God that she doesn't get killed or that any of the recordings from that day surface."

Ali tries to explain, but Emily talks over her.

"And then I have to make sure Hanna is okay since her former best friend was apparently killed in her own home, but we don't know for sure because the body wasn't even there."

Alison glances to the side, avoiding eye contact.

"But this doesn't seem to be news for you…" Emily implies as she crosses her arms.

"It is." The blonde answers, a little too quickly. "I just don't know what to say."

Emily looks at her, suspicion in her eyes, and Ali tries to explain herself. "You know I wasn't close with her."

"It's still a death, Alison." Emily gets closer, arms still crossed. "I thought you'd be a little bit more surprised."

"I thought you'd be a little bit happier to see me, Em." Ali accuses the taller girl back.

This deflates Emily. "I'm sorry, I just…" She sits next to Alison again. "It was just like last time, Ali. First you're there, then you're not and you're not there again for a while. And the last time it happened, I attended your funeral." She looks at Alison again, whose face seemed to mirror her own sorrow. "I can't take this game of yours anymore, either you leave and tell me why or you leave and never come back. I can't keep staring at your house anymore, hoping one day I see you walk out of it."

Ali wipes away a tear. "I know, and I'm sorry. But I had to leave."

"Why? Because you couldn't take the pressure?!"

"Because I couldn't keep putting your life in danger!" Ali raises her voice, trying to make Emily understand. "I couldn't stay here, knowing that because of me all of your lives are constantly at risk. It broke my heart to leave, but I had to because if I didn't, A would have pulled the trigger on your head next time it could! I had no other choice."

Emily nods as she looks away. She whispers, "You could have explained…"

"You would have stopped me."

Emily gulps as she walks to the window again, noticing it's unlocked. _So that's how she got in…_

"Em?" She hears Ali say and when she turns around, she finds her in front of her. Close enough to hear her heart beat. "Please don't fight with me… I don't have a lot of time left…"

The blonde caresses the taller girl's cheek, getting closer as she did. "I'm sorry…" She whispers, her eyes glossy with tears.

And that's enough to make Emily forgive Alison. "Hey, hey, hey…" She says softly as she gets closer to kiss her forehead. "It's okay…" She wraps her arms around the smaller girl as she continues kissing the top of her head. "It's okay…"

Alison lifts her head, silently begging for a kiss, as a tear rolled down her cheek. Emily immediately grabs her face and plants a kiss on her beautiful, lush lips. She melts in the kiss, getting weak in the knees. The blonde then takes control and continues kissing the brunette as her hands roamed all over her body.

_God, she missed these lips so much…_

A few minutes passed and their kisses started getting sloppier and messier, and neither girl knew which lip was whose. Emily pressed the smaller girl closer against her own body as she slid her tongue in the other mouth, earning a moan. Ali swiftly tries to gain advantage by lifting her right thigh a bit, to gently touch Emily's arousal. And she achieves, hearing a small gasp from the other girl.

The kisses start getting harder and they both know what they want but neither one of them wants to start it, scared of what it may mean.

Emily backs her head away, her eyes a few shades darker. Ali opens her eyes at the lost, looking at her both lovingly and confused.

"Please…" The blonde whispers. "I need you…" Her voice breaks a bit and Emily goes wild as she lifts the smaller girl's shirt up and throws it to the side. They keep kissing and kissing as Ali unbuttons the brunet's jeans. When she couldn't do it, she separates from the kiss to gaze down to her hands to see what she could do to open them. She hadn't noticed that her hands were shaking.

As she unbuttons her jeans, Emily starts kissing the left side of her face, whispering a few 'I love you's as she did. She finally manages to open them and she shimmies them down as Emily lifts her legs to take them off completely. Once thrown to the side, the blonde resumes kissing her as she gently touches with her own hands Emily's sensitive area.

"Mmm…" The brunette moans as she feels Alison's hands on top of her underwear. She continues kissing her as she carefully pushes her back until they reach her bed. Emily gently pushes the blonde down as she takes off her lover's pair of jeans and underwear, leaving her naked from the waist down. As Emily stares at Alison, the blonde quickly takes off her shirt, leaving her with just a bra on. Emily licks her lips as she takes off her own shirt and lies on top of Ali, kissing her.

They kiss and kiss and once Alison cups Emily's sensitive area, she moans and she remembers that she has her own underwear on, so she stands up quickly and takes it off. Ali does the same with her bra. They stare at each other, both exposed completely, emotionally and physically and it somehow never felt better. This time, Emily gets on top of Alison slowly, giving them enough time to savor the moment.

"I love you." Alison states, with such security in her voice that it scares her.

Emily is now inches away from Alison's mouth, both her heart and sensitive area beating like crazy. "I love you too." And she kisses her. She goes down her jaw line, to her neck, making Alison moan with pleasure. Ali caresses Emily's naked back as she leaves love bites all over her upper body. Emily takes a nipple and then the other and Alison never felt more at home. The brunette then goes upward again and starts kissing her as she opens the blonde's legs.

She places one finger on top of her entrance and she looks at her one last time, wanting to memorize the face she makes when she first enters her to save it forever. She slowly starts going in and Alison moans, loud enough for the noise to bounce off the walls. She then places another finger in and she starts pumping in and out as she touches her clit with her thumb.

Ali moans as she lifts Emily up a bit to take her nipples in her mouth as she smoothly lifts her hand and starts entering Em. They both moan in pleasure, going faster…

And faster…

And faster…

They feel each other tighten on their respective fingers and they know they're close. They look at each other straight in the eyes, pumping and pumping, and Alison comes undone, followed by Emily.

Emily drops on the bed next to her, both panting and trying to control their bodies. Ali is the first to face her, smiling and filled with sweat. "You're so beautiful…" She leans in and kisses her again, this time softer. Emily kisses her back… and they kiss and kiss and next thing they know, they're asleep.

-31 Hours till Christmas-

Emily wakes up a little after 5, smiling because she just had the best nap of her LIFE. And also, the best Christmas gift anyone could ever ask for. She looks at her left and smiles because Ali was still there, sleeping beautifully. She plants a soft kiss on her lips but she keeps slumbering like a baby. Emily stares at her in pure adoration for a few more minutes, until she decides that she should make Ali some dinner in bed, or something.

So she heads downstairs, ready to tackle the kitchen, but she stops on the counter to check her phone first. And she finds…

1 Missed Call from Hanna

4 from Spencer

2 from Aria

13 Unread Texts from Hanna

And one from her mom

She opens her mom's text first, knowing that whatever the girls had to say was going to take over the rest of the day. The text read: "Doing some last minute shopping. Blame your dad."

She then opens Hanna's texts and they all pretty much say "Call me", but some are more urgent than others.

And just on cue, her phone starts ringing. It's Spencer.

"Spence?" She says as she answers.

"Finally! We were about to go to your house!" A frustrated Spencer replies.

"Sorry, I just… fell asleep." She mumbles, rubbing her eyes.

"You need to get here right away." Spencer commands her.

"I can't right now…" She protests.

"It's important."

"Spencer, I can't!"

"Ali is A! We just confirmed it!"

Emily shuts up and looks at the staircase, making sure that Ali wasn't coming down. "What?" She whispers.

"You have to come over!"

"She's not A."

"Emily, she is! Even Aria is convinced!"

"Put her on the phone." Emily asks Spencer, thinking that Aria could excuse her since she's the most reasonable one.

"Hey." Aria says once she's on the line.

"Aria, we both know that the proof they get is mostly never accurate. They accused Mrs. D of being A, for crying out loud."

"I know but this time I can't even think about defending Ali. You really need to see all of this."

Emily sighs. "Aria, I can't." She pleads, hoping Aria gets the message.

"Wait…" Aria starts. "Did you… You know…" She whispers and Emily hears her walk away from her other two friends.

"Yes, I did. And Ali's here. I can't go now."

"What is she doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Okay." Aria thinks. "Leave her a note, come over here, we'll show you what we found and if it doesn't convince you, you can go back."

Emily sighs, about to protest, but Aria stops her.

"Please? I'm worried."

"Fine." Emily agrees. "I'll be there soon."

"This better be good."

Emily says as she walks in Spencer's house, annoyance in her voice.

"Hello to you, too." Aria hands Emily a candy cane. Then she winks at her. Emily rolls her eyes playfully, knowing that her small friend just confirmed that she did not tell anyone about Ali and her.

"Soooooo!" Spencer faces Emily, wearing a Santa hat. "A few hours ago, right when you disappeared, Hanna got some papers from the police."

Hanna waves the papers from a distance.

"It's a letter from Mona to Hanna." Spencer continues. Emily walks up to Hanna and examines the papers herself. She reads the letter Mona wrote. "They're a map of Mona's house."

Emily nods. "Why are some places in her house marked?" She questions, examining the map.

"Because those are the places Mona wanted us to look in." Hanna answers.

"And we did." Aria says, walking towards them.

"Hanna went to visit Mona's mom…" Spencer says as she rubs Hanna's back in support. "And while they talked about everything, Aria and I broke in her house and checked the marked spots. And we found…all of that." She points at some pictures and papers on the other side of the table, so she walks over there.

She starts grabbing things one by one and her heart starts to beat like crazy.

First, she sees a picture of Ali in a black hoodie talking to Cyrus. Then, she sees some pictures of her and Holbrook kissing. She also sees Ali walking in and out of Radley. She sees many more pictures of Ali either doing something she hasn't told Emily about or of her in a black hoodie and her vision gets blurry. She then reads a letter from Bethany to Alison, saying that she couldn't want to visit her on Labor Day weekend.

"Oh my God…" Emily whispers as a few angry, sad, and scared tears roll down her cheeks. "This can't be right…"

"And unfortunately, that's not all…" Spencer hands Emily a few final pictures.

"Is that… us?" Emily looks at the picture, where she sees herself with Paige and Hanna and Aria with their own boyfriends hugging in front of Mona's house. "Are these pictures of the day Mona died?"

"Yeah." Hanna affirms, sadly.

Emily looks at the next picture, where she sees a picture of a black hoodied person with blonde hair entering Mona's house. Then she sees the last picture; Alison staring at them and at the house from a distance. "Oh my God, Ali was there?" She asks, wiping a tear a way.

"Apparently." Aria whispers.

"But this can't be! Mona died almost a month after my kidnap, Ali left a week later!" Emily argues.

"I don't know, I guess that…" Hanna's brows furrow in confusion. "Wait…How do you know that?" Hanna asks Emily, sparking Spencer's interest.

"What?" Emily asks.

"How do you know Ali left a week after you were kidnapped?"

"Yeah, how?" Spencer asks too.

The targeted brunette licks her lips, trying to find an alternative answer but her mind isn't working properly right now. "I, I don't know, I, I, I'm guessing." Emily rubs her temples, not wanting to explain.

"You sounded pretty convinced, though." Spencer says, making Emily even more uncomfortable. She really didn't want to tell them about Ali and her.

"I, I don't know. Okay?"

"Emily…." Hanna presses on.

"Because she told me! Okay? She told me!" Emily screams, throwing the pictures in her hand on the couch.

"When?" Hanna asks, confused.

Emily looks at Aria, pleading for her to explain.

Aria rolls her eyes, not wanting to be the one to tell them. "Ali and Emily were together when we called."

"What?!" Spencer and Hanna exclaim at the same time.

"And NOW you tell us?!" Spencer demands.

"Jesus…" Emily sits down, rubbing her eyes.

"Guys, give her a break! They just met up!" Aria tries to defend Emily.

"Oh my God." Hanna says. "You two had sex didn't you?!"

Emily presses her hands against her head.

"Oh my God." Spencer exclaims, feeling like her head was about to explode.

"She totally did! I can smell her hands all the way over here! Oh my God!" Hanna points at Emily, her eyes wide.

"Guys! Come on! We're not in middle school anymore!" Aria tries to get everyone to shut up because Emily keeps pressing her hands against her skull harder and it looked like it was about to pop open. "Let it go!"

"Aria, Emily slept with A!" Hanna spat back.

"No! Emily slept with Alison! We don't know anything for sure! In this town nothing is what it seems!" Aria argues.

"Oh my God." Spencer says from a distance, rubbing her temples too.

Emily angrily knocks all the papers to the ground and walks to the door.

"Where are you going?!" Spencer asks, too afraid to know the answer.

Emily stays quiet and practically starts sprinting to get out.

"Em?!" Hanna exclaims.

"To see Alison! Or A! Or whatever you want to call her!" She screams back as she leaves, slamming the door on the way out.

Silence takes over the room.

But Aria breaks the tension with a simple, yet sarcastic, "That turned out well."

-30 Hours till Christmas-

Emily is in her car, staring at her house. She SHOULD go in and face Ali already, but not even the last half an hour was enough to calm her down. She doesn't even know what to say to her once they're face to face. A part of her wants to question Ali endlessly and beg for answers, but she knows that all she'll get are lies in return. Another part of her wants to hit her and hit her, but she wasn't the kind of girl to hit people and that would only break her own heart. She figures that she'll know what to do once she gets in, so she gets out of the car, freezing to death since it was already snowing like crazy. She runs to the front door and opens it, hoping Ali had already left.

But to her disadvantage, Ali was in HER clothes watching some TV in her living room.

"Hey you. I was wondering if the girls were ever going to let you go" Alison says once the blonde notices that the brunette is finally home. She looks at her with pure love in her eyes and Emily feels her heart hurting. "Want to watch the Grinch with me?"

Emily continues staring at her, her eyes filled with a sort of feeling Alison had never seen before. Her blood runs cold. "Em?"

Emily keeps looking at her and if looks could kill, she'd probably be dead by now. She stands up softly. "Babe, what's wrong?"

"Don't 'babe' me." Emily says, not taking her eyes off of her.

Ali shakes her head, her eyebrows furrowing. "Emily, what ha-"

"When did you leave, Alison?" Emily asks, still not looking away, squeezing her fists on the side.

"What?" The blonde asks confused.

"I said when did you leave town. After A kidnapped me."

Ali gulps nervously. "I told you, a week after."

"Really, Alison?" She crosses her arms. Her eyes were starting to sting. "Did you come back before yesterday?"

"What? No." Alison answers. "What makes you say that?"

"Don't lie to me." Emily warns her.

"Emily, what's going-" She tries to get closer but Emily takes a few steps back.

"Stay away from me." She warns again.

Ali's lower lip trembles. "Em…"

"I saw some pictures of you looking at me and my friends the day Mona was killed."

Ali stops breathing.

"And I also saw some pictures of you kissing Holbrook and of you with a black hoodie."

"Whoa…" Ali feels lightheaded. "A black hoodie?"

Emily stays silent, staring coldly.

"Please tell me you guys don't think I'm A?"

"What else is there to think?"

"Emily…"

"It all starts off with some texts and messages, revealing something about ourselves that only you knew." The brunette starts listing. "And then it turned into a sort of game only you like to play. Then you come back and try to pretend that you've changed but all this evidence seems to suggest otherwise."

"Emily, please don't…"

"Did you kill Mona?"

"No!" Alison exclaims, shocked that she even had to answer her questions. "I didn't kill Mona! I'm not a murderer!"

"Then what were you doing there?!"

"I came to check up on YOU!" Ali screams back at her, furious at the constant lack of trust coming from Emily.

"I thought you had left!"

"I hid out in Ravenswood for a while! Then I saw the news and I saw Mona's house and I freaked so I came back! Only to see you holding Paige!" Alison spits at her.

"She randomly showed up, we were never a thing after you left!"

"That's not what it looked like!"

Emily sighs heavily. "You're lying. You didn't come back to see me."

"I did, but believe whatever you want to believe!"

Emily takes a deep breath. "I think it's best if you go home."

"Em…"

"Please get out of my house."

Ali looks at the clothes she's wearing. "But these are yours."

"I don't care. Just take your phone." Emily goes to the couch and hands Alison back her phone. "And leave."

Ali stays still, not knowing if she should leave or not.

"Are you deaf?!" Emily screams at her. "Leave!"

Ali gets startled because Emily had never screamed at her like that, but she does as she's told and she leaves.

On her wait out, she runs into Pam. "Hi, Alison."

But Ali ignores her and keeps walking away.

A confused Pam enters the house with lots of bags in her arms. "What happened?"

Emily sits on the couch while she bites her lip, trying to suppress her tears, but her body starts involuntarily shaking and she starts sobbing uncontrollably.

"Emily… my baby…" Pam says as she places everything on the floor and wraps her arms around her teenage daughter.

"What's wrong?" She asks, in a soothing voice.

"I hate her! I hate her!" Emily screams in her mother's chest. "I hate her! Why can't she ever leave me alone?!"

Pam holds her closer, trying to comfort her but Emily starts crying even harder. "Because you don't let her."

Emily's sobs turn into desperate wails and Pam just holds her, praying that it's enough to heal her daughter's obvious broken heart.

-7 Hours till Christmas-

"It's Secret Santa time!"Ezra exclaims in his Santa boxers, carrying his gift on his right hand.

"Yes!" Aria cheers. "Let's gather around!"

A few cheers and whoops are heard around the room.

"Come on, Em! It'll be fun!" Hanna takes Emily by the hand and makes her join the fun.

"Okay! Who's first?" Ezra asks around the room, eating some chips with dips from the trays on a table.

"I volunteer Toby!" Spencer screams as she raises her hand.

"Spencer!" Toby exclaims, laughing.

"Looks like you're up, Bud." Caleb pressures him, his arm around Hanna's waist. "Toby! Toby Toby!" Everybody chants and the tall boy goes to the Christmas tree to grab his present.

"Fine!" Toby models his Santa boxers on his way to the semi circle.

"Remember! No physical descriptions!" Spencer reminds her boyfriend.

"I know, Spence." Toby says as he clears his throat to start. "My person loves to shop."

"Hanna!" Everyone in the room screams, making both Hanna and Toby laugh.

"She says whatever is in her mind!" Toby continues anyways.

"Hanna!" Everyone screams again.

Toby giggles. "And she's exactly who you think it is! Ms. Hanna Marin!"

The room erupts in cheers as Hanna goes to get her present and hugs Toby. "Thank you!" She says.

Toby puts on her his Santa hat. "You're welcome."

"Okay!" Hanna says. "My person is extremely artistic."

"Aria!" Everyone cheers.

"And I love her so much so please welcome Aria Montgomery WOOOO!"

Everyone starts clapping as Hanna hands over Aria her gift and they both hug and take a selfie in the process.

"Since we're doing easy ones, then my person is extremely technological." Aria smirks as everyone tells Caleb to go up front. The two hug and now it is Caleb's turn to hand over his gift.

"I honestly don't really know my person." Caleb starts admitting, and no one guesses because that could be many people in the room. "But, that person is a FANTASTIC writer."

"EZRA!" "Ezra!" Everyone cheers and Ezra and Caleb twerk to each other in their boxers. Then Ezra is all alone and it's his turn to give his gift.

"Well, I AM a writer. So I won't make this so easy, even if there is only a couple of people left." Ezra starts. "My person is… my hero."

Everyone stays quiet, knowing it's not Aria since she already got a gift.

"I think that all of us are strong, but for me this person has been the strongest."

They continue listening.

"I told this person once that there are real problems in the world. That she shouldn't complain about hers."

Emily looks at the floor knowingly, too sad to celebrate appropriately.

"This person…" Ezra gets closer to Emily since everyone already knows who he's referring to. "Had to go to two funerals: one of her first love and the other of her first girlfriend."

Emily feels her eye sting, but he's still thankful for Ezra because she seriously needs to feel appreciated.

"And had on her shoulder the death of the friend who lied to her and killed her first girlfriend."

Emily closes her eyes as her tears fall freely. Hanna, who is next to her on the couch, puts her arm around her and Emily cries a little bit more.

"And she had to give up on her dreams because her health wouldn't let her accomplish it."

A broken sob escapes her lips.

"And lost her home, says goodbye to her father whenever he comes to visit because he's in the military, has to deal with her sexual identity and the homophobia that comes with it…" He kneels in front of her, as he takes one of her hands. "She's had everything taken away from her. And she's still here. She's still trying to smile in between tears. She came and she still believes in happy endings."

The familiar words makes her sob quietly again.

"She's a fighter. A warrior. And we couldn't be more proud of her."

Ezra smiles at Emily, as encouragingly as he can. "Everyone, give it up for Emily Fields."

The whole room starts cheering louder than ever as Emily and Ezra stand up and give each other a hug.

Everyone stands up and turn the Ezra and Emily hug into a big group hug, making Emily smile. They start chanting 'Emily, Emily!' as they squeeze her, making her laugh. Once they let go, Emily wipes her tears away as she smiles and laughs.

"Your gift." Ezra says as he gives Emily her present.

"Thank you." Emily says, sincerely. "It means a lot to me."

"Any time." They hug again and now it's Emily's turn.

"Sorry for that." Emily says as she wipes her eyes completely.

Everyone starts saying "Awww!"

"My person…" Emily continues. "Well, no one wanted me to be friends with him at first."

"Toby!" The remaining three girls in the room yell, all remembering the old times.

"But he's like a brother to me." Emily continues. "And his name is Toby Cavanaugh!"

Toby stands up and gives Emily a hug as he takes his gift.

"Is that it?" Toby asks. "Did everyone get one?"

"Not everyone." Spencer says as she stands up with her gift in her hands. She walks to the front, clearing her throat to get everyone's attention. "My person… is super smart."

"Boo!" Hanna yells. "That's not fair, you're not supposed to gift yourself!"

"What makes you say it's me?" Spencer asks, trying to mind-fuck Hanna.

"Super smart? Really, Spence?" Caleb adds.

Spencer rolls her eyes. "I needed to make sure I got this gift!"

"Boo!" Hanna starts booing and everyone else joins in.

"Bah! Humbug!" Spencer protests as she goes back to her seat, getting a kiss from Toby.

"Now can we open the presents?" Hanna asks to no one in particular.

"Yes we may!" Spencer pronounces and the room breaks in, opening their presents.

-6 Hours till Christmas-

"You can't keep staring at her house, you know?" Aria says as she joins Emily in the window.

"I know." Emily says.

"So…?"

"She's all alone in there." She points at Ali's house. "She was supposed to fly out today to see her dad. But she couldn't so I observed her go back inside with all of her stuff. And she hasn't left. She sleeps with the light on and well…" they stare at her room above, and a light is indeed on.

"No one is flying or driving back here. The storm hit hard."

"I know. And know she's all alone in that big house and I'm guessing she doesn't even have a nice tree in there."

"Honey…" Aria tries to calm her down. "That's not your responsibility."

"I confronted her yesterday about the Mona thing."

"What did she say?" Aria asks curiously.

"She said that she had left a week after what happened, but to Ravenswood. There she saw the news and came back here to check up on us. She was going to talk to me but she saw me cuddling Paige outside and stayed away."

"Do you believe her?"

"I don't know." Emily admits. "But I did check the pictures again and I noticed that Ali's hair is different than the person who went in her house." She takes the pictures out of her purse and shows her. Aria examines them. "And she did tell us that she met up with Cyrus a couple of times, she just didn't tell us what she was wearing."

"The picture thing is true, but I don't know…" Aria admits.

"Aria…" The taller brunette tries to explain. "You didn't do it with her."

Aria makes a grossed out face.

"I did. It felt so real and sincere, for the first time ever. I felt her open up completely and those things don't happen unless you're both in love and you know it."

"I do…"

"Ali is highly suspicious but so was Toby. So was Ezra. And they both ended up being huge liars but they were still in love with you and Spencer."

Aria nods. "I know."

"Ali isn't A. She can't be. Not after everything she's done for us."

Aria sighs. "I know it's hard to believe but we can't let our feelings- "

"Guys." Everyone hears Spencer says. "The UPS guy just showed up. Apparently we got a gift all the way from Paris…"

Toby gets near her and evaluates the box in Spencer's hands. "How do you it's from Paris? There's no return address."

"How did he even drive up here?" Hanna asks.

"Only the main streets are filled with snow, Han. And because it literally says 'From Paris'". Spencer explains as she places the box down.

"Who is it for?" Caleb asks, curiously.

"For Emily, Hanna, Aria, and me." Spencer answers.

"Should we open it?" Aria asks. "What if it's a bomb?"

"Honey, you can't just send a bomb through mail." Ezra mocks her nicely.

"Someone give me a knife." Spencer says and Toby hands her one. She stabs the box and opens it.

"What the hell?" Hanna says out loud as she sees the content. "Is that…?"

"Yeah. These are the bracelets Ali got us a few years ago." Spencer answers and hands them all to each girl.

They all inspect them. "They seem new." Emily notes.

"They do." Aria agrees.

"What's that?" Ezra asks, pointing at the black book next to where the bracelets used to be.

Spencer takes it out and inspects it. She opens the book and sees Ali's handwriting on it. "I think this is Ali's newest journal."

"What?" Emily questions and Spencer hands her it.

"And some CD." Aria says as she opens this case with a coverless CD.

"Hey, there's a letter in the bottom." Hanna notes and Emily takes it out.

"Dear Girls." Emily reads the front of the envelope. They all gather around, encouraging her to open it and start reading.

"Seriously?" Emily asks.

"Yeah, read it." Spencer pushes her. Emily rolls her eyes and read out loud.

"Dear Girls:

I've tried to write this letter over a thousand times but nothing comes out right. I guess I better start by saying I'm sorry to all of you for leaving like that; hopefully I already stormed Rosewood and I got to apologize to Emily myself. So I guess that apology is more for the rest of you. I truly am sorry for all the heartache I've cause these last couple of years. You guys don't deserve any of this and if I could take it all back I would, but sadly it's too late for that."

Spencer scoffs, earning a pointed look from Emily. Spencer mouths a 'sorry' and she continues.

"My last Christmas, as you all know, was spent on the run and it couldn't have been lonelier. I wanted more than anything to randomly teleport myself to Spencer's annual holiday get together and praise her old tacky reindeer sweaters."

Everyone giggles at that.

"I wanted more than anything to share that last piece of pie with Hanna. I wanted more than anything to do some karaoke with Aria, since apparently we're the best singers there. And of course, I wanted to find a way to mysteriously end up under the mistletoe with Emily and laugh at her cute red, embarrassed cheeks and kiss them afterwards." Emily blushes but she keeps going. "But most importantly, I wanted to be with my family. I wanted to hug my mom because even if she buried me alive, she gave me a sort of security. She made me feel safe. She made me feel like a spoiled kid again. But I couldn't, because my return could mean horrible, horrible things for myself and all my loved ones. So I spent Christmas crashing some hotels, trying my best to not seem homeless. It wasn't until I saw this little kid open her present that I started to cry. I asked myself if I would ever be able to settle down and have children of my own, but the answer always seemed to be no. And I felt… empty. I felt as if everything I was doing was worthless because I would never be able to be happy again."

Emily stops to look at everyone, and they all suddenly look gloomy.

"Then you guys found out I was alive and that loneliness didn't disappear, but it was slowly being replaced by both fear and hope. I was scared because now I was exposed again and A could easily find me. But I was also hopeful because what I wanted… No, what I needed was to somehow be part of the foursome I left behind when I had to disappear. And that same foursome finding me was enough for me to feel like I could be their friend again. Like I could be their cool, badass friend once more."

Emily hears Aria sniffle.

"But like Spencer says, hope breads eternal misery and here I am, in Paris, running away for what feels like the hundredth time. I know you guys don't think highly of me anymore… In fact, you never truly have. But I know that now I probably hit the lowest low and that there's no coming back from abandoning the ones you love for a second time in a row. But I just want you to understand that I couldn't keep pretending like what was happening was okay, because it wasn't. Emily could have died that afternoon. If it wasn't for Spencer and Toby, I don't know what my life would be like right now. Emily could be dead and I'd be begging God to kill me Himself because I would have never gotten over the guilt."

Emily sniffles herself, feeling a new pair of tears roll down her face.

"I just want all three of you to know that I'm A's biggest target and with me gone, it'll get easier. So that's why I want to leave for good. Because you all deserve a fresh start and I can't give any of you that. And Emily… I love you, okay? I always will. But you need to move on and find someone who can always be there for you and not bring you any trouble. I'm sorry."

The room goes dead silent until Emily continues. "The black book is a journal I kept while I was gone. Since Labor Day weekend. I wrote there every important event from those years. There, you'll find some answers you've been looking for, including the Bethany thing. Also, it has some leads on finding out who A is. I need you all to read it carefully and burn it because that information can't end up in the wrong hands."

Hanna observes the book.

"And the DVD? Well… Just watch it together. Which you probably all are but yeah. And the bracelets? I ordered some new ones because I want each one of you to find it one day in the far future and think about me. That way, my immortality desires never die off.

I love you all unconditionally.

Love,

Alison.

PS Merry Christmas, girls. And a happy new year. I hope you all get what you wished for."

They all stay quiet for a while longer, analyzing the letter as best as they can.

"Do we believe it or…?" Caleb voices everyone's question.

"Let's watch the video first." Spencer suggests as she walks to her laptop, opens it, and plays the video.

As the video starts playing, the Liars are transported to a few Christmases back, remembering that particular one very well.

They all smile as the boys watch.

"_Hey Ali!" Aria says to Ali who is modeling in front of the camera. "Leave the camera alone and come with us to open some presents."_

Ezra fiddles with Aria's hair, fake-looking for a pink stripe. Aria takes his hand instead.

"_Here we have Aria Montgomery, slayer of the goths." Ali says as she turns the camera completely to face the black-haired girl._

"_Ha, ha. Very funny. __Come on, what are you doing?" _

"_I'm making a documentary! I'm filming our first official Christmas together, isn't it obvious?" Ali responds sarcastically._

_Aria rolls her eyes playfully. "Come on, let's go!"_

"_Do something cool first."_

_Aria fidgets but ends up sticking out her tongue._

"How old were you guys when this was recorded?" Ezra asks, noticing how small they looked.

"Like 12." Emily responds.

"_Okay, stop. You're embarrassing me." Ali says as she focuses the attention back on her. "Okay people, now we go inside." She films herself as she walks in._

_In the take we see the Hastings, Ms. Marin, the Fields, the Montgomerys and the DiLaurentis. They're all talking and eating some snacks._

The Liars smile.

"_Hey, Hanna!" Ali now focuses the take on Hanna. "Watcha doing?"_

"_Nothing." A Hefty Hanna responds. "Just sitting."_

"_I can see that." Ali responds once again sarcastically. "When are you going to get up?"_

"_When we open the gifts, duh."_

"_I like your attitude."_

_Hanna smiles, approval radiating off of her._

"_Where's Spence?" Ali asks, snapping Hanna back to reality._

"_She's in the back, fighting with Melissa."_

_Ali then walks with camera to the backyard, where Spencer and Melissa are screaming at each other. "Hey!" Ali tries to scream at them, and they look her way. "Spencer, it's not worth it. Just come with us, we're doing Secret Santa now."_

_Spencer crosses her arms and walks to Ali._

"_Any comments?" Ali asks._

"_No." And Spencer continues walking. Ali puts herself on the angle and smirks. "Sisters. Such a complicated life."_

_The screen goes black but it comes back again._

"_YOU STUPID CAMERA!" Ali screams at the lens. _

The group gets startled.

"_Why didn't you record the Secret Santa thing?! You useless pile of shit!"_

Everyone giggles a bit because a small, angry Alison looks hilarious.

"_Alison?" Mrs. DiLaurentis walks up to her daughter. "What's wrong?"_

"_The camera didn't record the Secret Santa exchange!"_

"_Ali, don't worry about that. You can tell them what happened now."_

"_Fine." Ali says as she stands up. "I gave Spencer a gift and she goooot…" Ali runs to Spencer who has some notebooks and a pencil in her hands. "Some notebooks and a pencil!"_

"_Yes, because I don't have any of these things." Spencer answers sarcastically as she walks away._

Everyone giggles again.

"_And Spencer got Emily and shee got…" She runs up to Emily. "What did you get, Em?"_

"_I got some new goggles and some bathing suits!" The brunette answers, filled with enthusiasm._

"_You're so cute." Ali mumbles._

"_What?" Emily asks, shock taking over her facial expression._

"_What?" Ali asks herself before smoothly fixing it. "I mean, it's cute that those stupid gifts make you excited."_

"_They're great! I love them!"_

"_Good."_

"_Good." _

_Emily stares at the camera for a few more seconds, not knowing what to say. "Shouldn't you be recording people?" She asks._

"_Yeah." A nervous Alison replies. "I was just making a dramatic pause."_

"So gay…" Real life Hanna whispers as Emily elbows her.

"_Anyways! Emily got me and she got me…" Ali runs to a table. "This picture of us together." She shows the picture on camera. "This shirt." She also shows it. "And this Fashion magazine. Now this is a quality gift."_

Hanna scoffs, making herself get elbowed again.

"_And then Aria and Hanna got each other and they ended up gifting themselves the same pair of shoes but in different sizes. That was funny." Ali continues. "And that's pretty much it! I'm bored now." Ali moves the camera so it's facing everyone. "Say bye guys!" She screams and every child and adult says goodbye to the camera. The shot ends with Ali winking._

_The screen goes black again, but another video starts._

"_So, these are the kind of things I say in private, so here we go. Today is Christmas and it was by far the best one yet. I got to spend it with my friends and even if I wished for my brother to disappear and Santa failed, I had fun. I love being with my four best friends because even if sometimes they act like they're 10, they all listen to me. And that's a first." Ali glances away but faces the camera again after a few seconds. "I'm hiding in the bathroom to finish the final take. And I just want to thank God for this Christmas and my friends because I couldn't have asked for better ones. I feel important with them. With all of them. Even with Spencer, the one who likes to bother me. I wish that I get to spend every Christmas with them by my side. In other words, I wish we could be friends forever. But sh! Don't tell anyone I said this." She smiles as she looks at the door. "So now I go back and fake a stomachache so I can leave dramatically. Toodles."_

And this time, the screen goes black for good. They all stare at it for a little while longer, analyzing the video the same way they analyzed the letter.

"I believe her." Ezra is the first to admit it.

"What? This has to be all fake." Caleb tries to go against him.

"Guys, she lied to me for a while and I lied to her and to all of you guys, too. I know a good lie when I see it and I've never seen her be more honest."

"He's right." Aria backs up her boyfriend. "The last part… She had no one to lie to. No one to manipulate. Why would she film it if she didn't feel it?"

The rest stay quiet.

"I think that the video proves how much Alison loved Emily." Spencer scoffs. "I mean 'quality gift?' I got Emily something she liked and that's not quality?!"

Everyone laughs a bit.

"I'm sorry Caleb, but even I was touched. I know her and the fact that she said all of those things in the first place, says a lot." Hanna adds.

"So do we think she's A or not?" Toby asks.

"I don't know. All I know is that she was our friend. I don't know what her intentions are now, but she obviously sent this before Emily told her we thought she was A so that's worth something." Spencer argues.

"Em?" Aria asks.

Emily sighs. "I think we're dumbasses."

"Why is that?" Toby asks.

"Because here we are, debating whether Ali is a good person or not, while she's all alone on Christmas Eve." Emily concludes. "Even if she were A, maybe a little love would be enough to change her attitude. We know that was enough for Mona. Why not try it with her?"

"What are you suggesting?" Caleb asks.

"I think we should give her a good Christmas, because no matter what, we know we gave it our all. And after this video and the letter, I feel like it's the right thing to do." Emily looks at everyone and they're all smiling.

"Shall we start at midnight?" Hanna, dressed as an elf, asks.

"Yes, we shall."

By midnight, it was Christmas and everyone got in Ali's house and started decorating. The boys took care of the tree while the girls brought some food from Spencer's and decorated around. After everything was nearly done, Aria and Emily drove to the nearest pharmacy to buy a big stuffed animal to spray Emily's perfume on it to give it to Ali so she can sleep better. At exactly 12'o clock, Caleb placed the star on the top of the poorly moved tree and they couldn't be more proud of their work.

-9 Hours later-

She didn't want to wake up. There is no reason to. She is all alone in the same house she was buried alive and where her mother was found. The house brought nothing but sorrow. She stays a few minutes lying down, trying hard to fall back asleep. But she couldn't so she figured it was best to just wake up entirely.

She slowly leaves her bed as she walks to her window to spy on Spencer and her Christmas. Strangely, no one seemed to be home. For some odd reason, Ali is relieved. She goes to the bathroom, where she brushes her teeth and washes her face. She doesn't even bother changing. As she walks down stairs, she can't help but feel emptier than usual and she thought that was impossible.

She decides it's best to just not think, so she walks into the living room, where she finds an unexpected surprise.

Her 4 "friends" and their boyfriends are standing in the middle of HER living room. She glances behind them and she sees a beautifully lit Christmas tree sparkling their way. She takes a few steps forward as she glances around, noticing how there are small Christmas decorations ever.

"What's this?" Ali asks, suspiciously. She knows she can never let her guard down.

Emily is the one who's in front, so she looks at her friends and then faces her again before speaking. "It's a gift. From us to you."

Ali gulps as her eyebrows furrow, confusion taking over. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand?"

"Two days ago you hate me and now you're giving me Christmas?" The blonde questions.

"We got your gift." Aria steps closer. "With the video and all."

Ali sighs, a bit taken aback. "I even forgot about that."

"Well, we didn't." Spencer also takes a step forward.

"This is a peace offering. You don't need to take it." Hanna says. "It's our way of showing you that we don't want a war. We just want to stick together. We'll leave everything behind if you start being honest with us. We don't know how we feel about you just yet, but we know you deserve a chance since we never properly gave you one."

"Didn't you get the journal?" Ali asks.

"Yep." Ezra shows Ali they have it. "They did."

Ali nods.

"But they mean in general." Caleb steps in. "You need to stop your games-"

"And manipulation." Toby adds.

"And manipulation." Caleb backs Toby up. "And you need to trust them. They are the most truth worthy girls you'll meet and you need to stop treating them badly."

"I know." Ali agrees.

"So…" Emily asks, getting even closer to Alison. "Can we all start over?"

Ali tries to not smile at Emily, but fails.

"Guys!" Aria says and they both face her. "Look up."

And they see the mistletoe hanging.

"Oh, you so did that on purpose cause I said I wanted to kiss you under the mistletoe in the letter." Alison argues.

"Whatever." She says as she connects her lips to Alison's and everyone start whooping.

Emily separates from the kiss and looks at Alison as everyone scatters around, celebrating Christmas at Ali's. "I can't promise that we'll get back together because there's a lot we need to deal with, but I need you to stay." She presses her forehead against Alison's.

"I know…" Alison starts. "But I don't know if it's what's best."

Emily nods. "It's okay. We'll talk about it later. But you need to eat some of Spencer's dip first, it's literally better than ever."

"That sounds promising."

And hand in hand they walk to kitchen.

-An Hour Later-

As Toby goes around the Christmas tree, he spots an unopened gift. Curiously, he picks it up to check its contents. He checks for whom it is for, and when he sees an A on the label, he drops the gift.

"What's wrong, Toby?" Spencer asks him since she was the closest to him.

"A left Alison a gift." He deadpans, looking at the box on the floor.

Everyone stares at the exchange, since they all listened to what Toby said last. Alison quickly approaches the gift and inspects it.

"I don't want to open this." Ali says as she looks at the wrapped, box-like gift.

"How did it even get in here?" Hanna asks.

"I think that what matters right now is what's inside it."Caleb says.

"I'll open it." Spencer says and she unwraps it, revealing a Jack in the Box.

The box on the outside contains a lot of A's, freaking everyone out.

"I hate those things…" Hanna comments.

Spencer ignores her and starts spinning the lever.

The "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" song starts playing softly and slowly as she spins.

_He sees you when you're sleeping._

_He knows when you're awake._

_He knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness-"_

And the Jack pops out, making everyone jump.

They notice that the Jack has a paper stapled to it's face.

So Spencer reads it.

"_Next time, it won't be so easy to leave. Merry Bitchmas._

_-A"_


End file.
